Andy Gosler
Ethno-ornithologist
Professor of Ethno-ornithology studying the relationships between birds and people for better conservation.
I’ve been fascinated by birds since I was a small child and couldn’t think of doing anything other than ornithology from the age of 12. After degrees in Environmental Biology (Aberystwyth 1979) and Plant Taxonomy (Reading 1981) I researched the ecology and evolution of Great Tits in Wytham Woods for my doctorate (Oxford 1987). I continued to work in Wytham till 2012, but due to teaching ecology, evolution and conservation for the Human Sciences degree at Oxford, I became as fascinated by the universal importance of birds to humans, expressed through the world’s 7000 languages, as I am by the birds themselves. I became Fellow in Human Sciences at Mansfield College in 2008, co-edited the first book on Ethno-ornithology with Sonia Tidemann in 2010, became the first Professor of Ethno-ornithology in 2021 and Director of Studies for Human Sciences in 2023.
Get to know your birdsong:
Learn some Oxford birdsong while in lockdown
Find out about the Ethno-ornithology World Atlas here.
